The Game Designing Life

Matthew Sprange, one of the founders of Mongoose Publishing, just released I Am Mongoose, and So Can You!, a new book aimed at showing you how you can make a living in the tabletop gaming industry. I’ve only read through the free sample up at DriveThruRPG.com, but it seems like solid, sensible stuff. The PDF’s a bit pricey at $29.95 for 37 pages, but it could easily save a reader several times that much, plus even more grief.

In the sample, Matt does say he only knows one freelancer game writer making more than $50k/year. I suspect there are several out there, like Robin Laws, Ken Hite, Robert Schwalb, and many other friends I’m likely insulting by leaving them off the list. I’d count myself in there but for the fact I don’t make most of my money in tabletop gaming these days. When I did, though, I’d regularly rocket right through that ceiling.
In any case, if you’re serious about trying your hand at working on games for a living, it might be worth checking out.